Graphene oxide influences bacterial community and soil environments of Cd-polluted Haplic Cambisols in Northeast China

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO), a carbon nanomaterial that is widely used in the environment and other industries, may pose potential risks to ecosystems, especially the soil ecosystem. Some soils in Northeast China are frequently polluted with cadmium (Cd) metal. However, there is no study on the influence of GO on the Cd-contaminated soil microbial community and soil chemical properties. In this study, Cd (100 mg kg⁻¹)-polluted soils were treated with different concentrations of GO (0, 25, 50, 150, 250, and 500 mg L⁻¹, expressed as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6, respectively) for 40 days. The treatment without Cd pollution and GO served as the control (CK). Then, we investigated the influence of the GO concentrations on the bacterial community and chemical properties of Cd-polluted Haplic Cambisols, the zonal soil in Northeast China. After GO addition, the richness and diversity indexes of the bacterial community in Cd-contaminated Haplic Cambisols initially increased by 0.05–33.92% at 25 mg L⁻¹, then decreased by 0.07–2.37% at 50 mg L⁻¹, and then increased by 0.01–24.37% within 500 mg L⁻¹ again. The species and abundance of bacteria varied with GO concentration, and GO significantly increased bacterial growth at 25 and 250 mg L⁻¹. GO treatments influenced the bacterial community structure, and the order of similarity of the bacterial community structure was as follows: T4 = T5 > T1 = T6 > T2 > T3 > CK. Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the dominant bacteria, accounting for 36.0% and 26.2%, respectively, of soil bacteria. Different GO treatments also significantly affected the metabolic function of bacteria and further influenced the diversity of the bacterial community structure by affecting several key soil chemical properties: soil pH, organic matter and available potassium, phosphorus, and cadmium. Our results provide a theoretical basis for scientific and comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impacts of GO on the zonal forest soils of Northeast China.

Keywords

Cadmium pollution / Haplic cambisols / Graphene oxide / Bacterial community / Soil environmental factors

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